Chapter 12 Survival of the Fittest Summary and Analysis

In the 1980s, game theory took an unexpected turn as researchers in biology and sociology began to try to use game theory for their own purposes. In biology, game theory was used to model "evolutionarily stable strategies". A stable strategy was a strategy that can continue in its given population. While evolution is not about "winning", it is possible to think of organisms or genes as having a kind of strategy for reproduction and survival that can be replicated and passed on to the next generation. Strategies that are successful are stable over many generations. Nature is constantly changing. Landscapes and ecosystems will change in size temperature and will also vary in terms of predators and prey. An organism that can survive over long periods of time has developed a strategy that is...